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I keep things simple with quick sketches in pastel and gouache in this plein air study for future studio work.
As members of Kentucky Appalachia Outdoor Painters, we had a great, lunch-time conversation about the lessons learned from painting together and the different media and supplies we use.
Lori joined us for her first outdoor painting experience with us and we talked about how hard it is to relax and let go of perfection. We're creating sketches, studies, practice and not masterpieces.
In addition to the encouragement and fun together, the experience of outdoor painting leads to lighter kits and simpler goals. But it comes with practice.
As Debbie said, there's no such thing as failure. It's learning.
Thousands of men died here in August 1862, a bloody ground now full of beauty, peace and lessons learned as outdoor artists.
We're at the historic site of the Civil War Battle of Richmond, Kentucky.
Now about the battlefield: The Union had moved into middle Tennessee by August 1862.
Confederate Major General Edmund Kirby Smith made a bold move into Kentucky following where I-75 is now. His nearly 19,000 men overwhelmed the Union at Richmond, killing or capturing more than half of the men.
Many of the survivors would meet two months later at Perryville where the Union drove the Confederates out of Kentucky for good.
As we peacefully paint, we hear the boom of mortars at the Bluegrass Army depot about a mile away. Separated by 161 years, Army artillery is still heard in this valley.
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I am a member of Plein Air Artists of Central Kentucky and the Kentucky Appalachia Outdoor Painters.